Vaz moitteibo gomes



A. V. MONTEIRO GOMES, 0. L. HEINTZ AND E. C. MESSERSMITHH MOUNTING FORMACHINE GUNS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 13, 1916.

l 8 1 5 11, 8 o Patented Sept. 9, 1919,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ATTORNEYS- A. V. MONTEIROGOIVIES, 0. L. HEINTZ AND E. C. MESSERSMITH.

MOUNTING FOR MACHINE GUNS.

AiPLicm'loN FILED NOV. 13. 1916.

'. F113. ii. 3;; 54

Patented Sept. 9. 1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

ANTONIO VAZ MONTEIBO GOMES, OF LISBON, PORTUGAL, AND OTTO L. HEINTZ ANDEDGAR C. MESSEBSMITH, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK; SAID GOMES AND SAID MESSER-SMITH ASSIGNORS TO SAID EEINTZ.

MOUNTING- FO'R MACHINE-GUNS.

specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 53 1919.,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ANTONIO VAz MON- TEIRO GoMEs, a citizen of theRepublic of Portugal, residing at the city of Lisbon, in the Republic ofPortugal, and O'r'ro L. HEINTZ and EDGAR C. MEssnRsMrrH, citizens of theUnited States, and residents of Buffalo, in the county of Erie and Stateof New York, have jointly invented new and useful Improvements inMountings for Machine-Guns, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a mounting carriage for machine guns andsimilar ordnance, and more particularly to a mounting for supporting agun on amotor car or the trailer or rear car of a motor cycle, whichpermits the gun to be sighted and fired at an enemy while the car is inmotion.

Such guns are usually served by two operators, one stationed beside thegun to load it and assist in its adjustment and the other stationedbehind the gun to sight and fire it.

@ne of the objects of our invention is the provision of an improvedrotatable mounting which, in addition to the gun support, furnishesconvenient seats for the operators which may be coupled to thegun-support to enable the operators to control the rotation of thegun-support by means of the seats and to maintain the same relativeposition between these parts after the gun-support has been adjusted tothe desired angle.

A further object is to combine with the mounting a convenient adjustingmechanism which always brings the gun-sight in convenient proximity tothe eye of the sighting operator while he remains seated, regardless ofwhether the gun is adjusted to a substantially horizontal position orpointed downward at a greater or less angle or directed upward to a moreor less vertical position to disable a military air ship or aeroplane,avoiding the necessity of the sighting operators stooping or leaving hisseat to adjust the gun to extreme angular positions, and enabling him tosight it more quickly and with greater precision.

A further object of the invention is to so construct. the adjustingmechanism that the,

angle of the gun is increased in the act of elevating it and diminishedin the act of lowering it, thereby doing away with separate adjustingdevices for this purpose and correspondingly simplifying theconstruction of the mounting.

in the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a motorcycle having a rear car or trailer equipped with the improved mounting.Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the mounting, on an enlarged scale.Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation, partly in section, of the upperportion of the standard and adjacent parts. Fig, l is a horizontalsection, on a reduced scale, on line ll, Fig. 2, some of the internalparts being omitted for clearness.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughoutthe several views.

1, indicates a motor cycle of any suitable or well known constructionand 2 the platform of a rear car or trailer suitably attached theretoand having two or more supporting wheels, 3 of any appropriateconstruction.

lindicates a machine gun or similar device carried by our improvedmounting which is constructed as follows:

5 indicates a tubular standard or pedestal rising from the platform '2and having a base-flange 6 which is bolted or otherwise secured thereto.Arranged axially within the standard is a tube 7 projecting a suitabledistance above the standard and preferably extending downward through anopening 8 in the platform. The lower end of the tube is closed by a cap9. This tube is rotatable in the standard and preferably journaled andsupported therein by upper and lower ball bearings 10 and 11 of anysuitable construction.

12 and 13, indicate a pair of seats for the gun-operators, respectively,which are arranged on opposite sides of the standard and carried by arotary seat support or frame adapted to turn thereon. This supportcomprises a hub 14 surrounding the upper portion of the standard and apair of oppositely-extending arms or brackets 15 carrying the seats andsecured to said hub to turn therewith. In their outer ends the bracketsare provided with 'split or other suitable clamping sockets 16 whichreceive the vertical posts of the seats. Upon loosening the clampingdevices of these sockets, the seats can be adjusted vertically, asdesired.

Extending upwardly from the hub 14 1s a collar 17 which is brazed orpinned to the rotary tube 7. The internal shoulder 18 of said hub restsupon the bearing cone of the upper ball bearing 10.

Arranged within the tube 7 and separated therefrom by an interveningspace 18 a secondtube 19 the lower end of which is suitably secured tothe cap 9 of said outer tube, to hold the same against vertical movementrelative thereto. In the construction shown in the drawings, said" innertube is fixed to a plug 20 having a" screw stem 21 which passes througha central opening of said cap and to which a clamping nut 22 is applied.In its upper portion said inner tube is provided with an internal screwthread or nut 23 with which engages an upright adjusting screw 24adapted to be turned'in the nut for raising and lowering the screw andthe parts carried by it. Secured to the upper end of this screw is abevel gear 25 with which engages a corresponding gear 26 mounted on ahorizontal shaft 27 having a hand wheel 28. This shaft is journaled in ahead, or gear case 29 inclosing said gears and secured at its lower endby screws or otherwise to the upper end of a hollow post or column 30.The latter is guided vertically in the tube 7 in which it is alsorotatable. The gear case and the column 30 are connected to theadjusting screw to rise and fall therewith by any suitable means whichpermit rotation of the screw relative to said parts. In the constructionshown this connection is effected by an externally screw threaded ring31 screwed into the upper end of the column and interposed between thehub of the bevel gear 25 and a collar 32 secured to the adjusting screw.The nut 23 is held against rotation relative to the adjusting screw, bythe weight of the seatframe and the occupants of the seats, the hub ofsaid frame, as before stated, being secured to the tube 7 to which thenut-tube 19 is fixed.

Mounted upon the gear case 29 is a vertically-swinging gun-support orlever 33 which is pivoted between its ends to the ears of the case by atransverse bolt 34. This lever carries the machine gun on its front orlong arm, while its rear arm is pivotally connected with the upper endof a link 35 whose lower end is pivoted to a sleeve 36 which embracesthe collar 17 of the seat carrying hub 14.

tary displacement on the collar 17 by a suitable clamping device whichmay consist of a screw 39 provided at its outer end with a hand wheeland at its inner end with'a' a less angle as the screw is lowered. Boththe elevation and the angle of the gun are thus simultaneously changedby the single act of raising or lowerin the adjusting screw, thusdispensing with two adjusting devices for this purpose and simplifyingthe construction of'the mounting accordingly. The seat-supporting frameis preferably provided with a locking or clamping device 41, whichdevice 41 engages the upper end of the standard 5, similar to the screw39, for rigidly holding the seats in place after swinging them to thedesired position.

The gun is mounted to swivel in all directions on its carrying-arm orlever 33 by means of a universal joint 42 of any ordinary construction.

In the use of the gun-carriage or mounting the driver occupies the usualseat of the motor cycle and the operatorsof the gun occupy thelrrespective seats at the side and operators, by the thrust of their feetagainst the platform 2, now rotate the seat-frame together with thegun-supporting member to the general direction in which the gun is to befired, after which the clamping screw 41 is tightened to lock theseat-frame and prevent displacement thereof while firing.

If the gun is to be adjusted to an upward angle, say to fire at anaeroplane, the hand wheel 28- is turned in the proper direction toelevatev the screw 24 in the standard, the screw being raised until thesupporting lever 33 reaches approximately the angle required. The gun isfinally sighted by swinging it laterally, or vertically on said lever,by means of the usual handles at its rear end, in a well known manner.If, after thus adjusting the gun, it should be desired to swing it inthe arc of a circle to follow the enemy or sweep a given area, theoperators can conveniently do so without leaving their seats orotherwise changing their positions with relation to the gun, thecarrying lever 33 of the gun following the rotary movement of theseat-frame owing to its connection therewith through the link 35 and thecoupling sleeve 36 clamped to the hub of said frame.

To change the position of the gun from that just described to anapproximately horizontal position or at a downward angle, the adjustingscrew 24 is lowered to the necessary elevation, and in either of theselast-mentioned positions the gun can be pointed in any desired directionby the rotation of the seat frame about the standard, as abovedescribed.

Although the front portion of the gun is elevated and more or lessinclined by these adjustments, its rear 'end which carries the sightremains in close proximity to the eye of the sighting operator in allpositions of the gun. He can, therefore, conveniently and accuratelysight it without leaving his seat, enabling him to do so more quicklyand. accurately than if he had to leave his seat and stoop or stand forthat purpose.

By so organizing and constructing the mounting that the gun-support orlever 33 can be coupled to the seat frame to rotate in unison therewith,or disconnected there from to rotate independently thereof, these partscan be adjusted to the proper relativeposition to bring the gun sightdirectly in front of the sighting operator in all positions of the gun,avoiding the necessity of his leaning sidewise or otherwise assuming aninconvenient posture and insuring a more accurate aim.

It is also obvious that this mounting is suitable for supporting otherobjects which require similar vertical and angular adjustments, such forexample as'military search lights; and the terms of the appended claimsare intended to include such analogous uses.

\Ve claim as our invention:

1.- The combination of a standard, a seatsupport rotatable about saidstandard and held from vertical movement thereon, a gunsupport capableof vertical and angular movement on said standard and rotatableindependently of said seat support, and means for connecting said gunsupport with the seatsupport to rotate therewith.

2. The combination of a standard, a seatsupport rotatable about saidstandard and having a hub supported on the standard, a coupling sleevemounted on said hub and having means for clamping it thereto, a gunsupport rotatably mounted on said standard, and means connecting said.gun-support with said coupling sleeve to cause the same to rotate withthe seat-support when the sleeve is clamped to said hub.

3. The combination of a standard, an adjusting member vertically movabletherein, a gun-support mounted to swing vertically on said member, amember which is fixed relative to said adjusting member and a connectionbetween said gun-support and said.

fixed member.

4. The combination of a standard, an adjusting member vertically movabletherein, a lever mounted to swing vertically on said member, a memberwhich is fixed relative to said adjusting member, and a link connectingsaid lever with said fixed member.

5. The combination of a standard, a screw vertically adjustable in thestandard, means for actuating said screw, a vertically-swinginggun-support carried by said screw, a member which is fixed relative tosaid screw, and a link connecting said gun-support with said fixedmember.

6. The combination of a standard, a vertically-movable column guided insaid standard, a gear case secured on said column, an ad usting screwfor said column arranged in the standard, actuating gears for said screwarranged in said case, a gun-supporting lever pivoted to swingvertically on said gear-case, a member which is fixed relative to saidscrew, and a link connecting said lever with said fixed member. I

7. The combination of a standard, an upright tube rotatably arranged inthe standard, a seat support rotatable about the standard, and securedto said tube, a nut fixed to said tube, an upright rotary screw engagingsaid nut, means for rotating said screw, and a gun-support carried bysaid screw.

8. The combination of a standard, an upright tube, rotatably arranged inthe standard, a seat support rotatable about the standard and secured tosaid tube, a second tube arranged within the first mentioned tube andfixed thereto, said second tube having an internal screw-thread, anupright rotary screw engaging the thread of said inner tube, means foroperating said screw. and a gun-support carried bv the screw.

9. The combination of a standard, an upright tube rotatably arranged inthe standard, a seat support rotatable about the standard and secured tosaid tube, a second tube arranged within the first mentioned tube andfixed thereto, said second tube having an internal screw-thread, anupright rotary screw engaging the thread of said inner tube, avertically movable column guided in said outer tube and connected tosaid screw to move vertically therewith, a gear .case secured to the topof said column, gearing for operating said screw arranged in said case,a gun-supporting lever pivoted to swing vertically on said case, acoupling sleeve mounted on the hub of said seatsupport, and a linkconnecting said lever with said coupling sleeve.

10. The combination of a standard, a seat support mounted to rotateabout said standclamping it thereto, and means connecting -d, means f loki g said support to the said gun-support With said sleeve to causestandard, a gun-support capable of vertical the same to rotate with theseat-support. and angular adjustment on the standard and 5 rotatableindependently of said seat-support I ANTONIO VAZ MONTEIRO GOMES.

a coupling sleeve mounted on the hub o OTTO L. HEIN'IZ. saidseat-support and having means for EDGAR O. MESSERSMITH.

